Calling all women who have started solopreneurships or start up organizations! This post is for you. I see you. I see you on your best days. I see you out there hustling. I see you celebrating that proposal sent out, that funder who invested, that connection made, that step toward the vision YOU get to manifest.
And I see you on your worst days. Maybe you had to fire your first employee who didn’t share the same vision, maybe you’ve invested in a lot of training and mentorship without getting results, or maybe that initiative never got any traction. This probably has happened more than the wins.
The thing is, we need to learn from the “failures” in order to get the wins. I’ve failed more times than I’ve succeeded. THIS. IS. PART. OF. THE. PROCESS. (I say this for myself as much as anyone else). Nothing worth doing comes easy. And often, it takes a lot of self-work and inner power to move through the things that can leave us feeling demoralized or even desperate.
At the same time, prosperity doesn’t come from desperate or demoralizing energy. It comes from joy, from being in service, and from creativity. As entrepreneurs, and especially as women entrepreneurs, we need to replenish our wells so that we can come from that place. Replenishing the well means finding joy, connecting with positive people in your life, visualizing success, and time for NOT thinking about your business.
It’s easy to get caught up in thinking that you aren’t working as much as your former 9-5(+) job or that you have unconventional hours and therefore you aren’t “working” as hard. But how many hours a day are your thoughts and energy being consumed by your business – what you are doing, but also what you are not doing? This takes up valuable creative, joyful energy.
Here are three things you can do right now to move from stale, tired energy to energy that will move you and your business forward:
- Do something that brings you joy everyday. What makes you feel alive? Do something everyday that is invigorating for you.
- Take physical and mental breaks. Find space in your week or month to completely disconnect and shift your thinking away from the business. Practices that bring us to the present moment – movement, yoga, being in nature, meditation, being with a beloved pet – are some activities that may help us do this.
- Surround yourself with people who bring the energy you want to manifest. This is important. Not everyone in our lives brings joyful, creative, inspiring energy to us. We need to find those people who do (and this may be different people at different times in our lives).
These are practices that sustain us in work that can be unpredictable and blend the personal and professional in ways that are both passion-driven and burnout-prone. And, frankly, these three practices are helpful for any leader – both entrepreneurs and employees – as we navigate our busy lives.
We could all benefit from things that bring us aliveness and joy. What might we be able to create from that place? The possibilities are endless.
Rachel Lipton
Rachel Lipton, MPP, CPCC, ACC is a Co-Active Certified Coach with a decade of experience consulting with organizations to significantly elevate their leadership development and organizational effectiveness strategies. She supports executives, emerging leaders, and teams to thrive in today’s workplace and understands what individuals and organizations need to function effectively on the human level. Drawn toward intersectional disciplines with broad applications, Rachel has a BA from UC Berkeley with dual degrees in Political Science and Mass Communications and a Masters in Public Policy from USC.
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